“…Alabama's Dexateens knock one out of the park with their third album Hardwire Healing. The three-guitar quintet remains rooted in the rough-and-tumble rock & roll of the Faces and the Rolling Stones, with a strong undercurrent of outlaw country and some dynamics borrowed from the Southern rock tradition. But the songwriting is key here. Loose rockers like "Makers Mound," "Naked Ground" and "What Money Means" don't obscure the melodies under the rush of guitars and energy, and poignant balladry like "Nadine," "Some Things" and "Downtown" avoids both maudlin sentiment and hipster irony. That the group can fold gritty pop like the speedy "Neil Armstrong" and the acoustic "Own Thing" into the mix without the tunes sounding out of place denotes the consistency of their approach to writing and performing. Songs that draw from tradition without sounding retroÑno wonder Drive-By Truckers leader Patterson Hood is a fan (and this album's producer). Hardwire Healing is rock & roll at its finest. Michael Toland, High Bias

And Ian is right, there's a touch of Faces and Ronnie Lane in their music. Why don't you try yourself? Their new LP is FREE. Enjoy.Dexateens web site

2008/08/30

Paul Weller is a man who has continually pushed himself musically. Never happy sticking to one genre he has reinvented himself numerous times in his 31 year career, in the process shocking the public and even his own band members. He’s just turned 50 and instead of rehashing music from his past with The Jam or The Style Council, he has decided to create a new kind of sound and many people are claiming that this is his best work.

Paul’s started his career at the young age of 14 when he formed the Jam. The band soon started playing to small crowds and secured a record deal when he was just 19. They became hugely successful very quickly, becoming one of the seminal British Punk bands, playing to massive audiences and having 18 consecutive top 40 singles and 4 number 1 hits in the UK. Paul, controversially split from the band in the height of their popularity because he wanted to try out new styles of music.

In the early ‘80s Paul formed the group the Style Council who played a mix of pop, funk, soul and, at the very end, house music. In the ‘90s Paul went solo and he has released 9 solo albums since this time. His latest album ‘22 Dreams’ debuted in the top 10 in the UK charts. Known as Britain’s ‘Modfather’, Paul has just finished his first Australian tour in 23 years. While he was here he performed exclusively for Sunday Arts.

2008/08/28

Notes from the original bootlegger:Here's disc 2 of this series,which is all BBC Tracks, that never seemed to be released, for whatever reason, probably the sound quality, as the BBC never seemed to keep these tracks around,and actually taped over a lot of these special radio shows! What?! I don't know, I guess they thought that this was a passing phase,and it wouldn't last, and besides, it was "just that pop music" and who would think this many years later people still really love this music? Well, I suppose it's just like the same people at Decca Records,who passed on the Beatles, and are kicking themselves to this day.That they ended up signing the Rolling Stones, and would never ever make that same mistake again. Now, I'll bet the BBC saves everything like those crazy people who hoard things,and can't even walk through their homes anymore.Well, I'm getting off track here...The BBC should be spanked hard and I'd like to be the first one to do it! Anyways,this disc will do, and fill in my Kinky pleasures. It features Kinks tracks from 1963 to 1972. And the best version of "Animal Farm" (from The Village Green era) Kool!

Still enjoying the fruits of the JamPaul WellerEnmore Theatre, August 19Reviewed by George Palathingal

Lately, Paul Weller has been ruthless in his appraisal of Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler, his erstwhile bandmates in his first great musical incarnation, The Jam, for cashing in on the past. (Foxton and Buckler recently toured Australia as the oafishly titled From The Jam).

Weller may not think he's doing the same thing - why would he when his current solo album, 22 Dreams, is his best in years? - but the inescapable truth is most patrons at this, his first of three Enmore Theatre shows, have not come to hear selections from that.

The main problem, if that's not too harsh a word, is that much of the classic material - from The Jam and Style Council and Weller's early solo work- is so iconic, it shows up the good new stuff. He doesn't play that much of 22 Dreams but you can't miss the relief and elation when its songs give way to, say, the Style Council's still breezy Shout to the Top! or the chiming acoustic guitars of The Jam's That's Entertainment.

A more pressing issue is Weller's tendency to musically ramble. An early The Changingman, as the song puts it, "lights the fuse" but it soon fizzles as the first of several, err, jam-heavy tracks arrive, yawnsome guitar solos and all. Of course, the fans indulge him, safe in the knowledge he'll repay them with an Eton Rifles or a Wild Wood.

On the whole, Weller at 50 still carries off being a rock star. He's equally comfortable alternating between his impassioned bark and smoky croon while attacking a guitar or caressing a keyboard. Lean and chic in black, with conspicuously more hair than his audience, his enormous charisma plays a part too.

He might prefer his new music to do more of the talking but after a final, exuberant romp through The Jam's Town Called Malice, Weller's smile is as unmistakably wide as everyone else's.

The concept behind this bootleg is a decent one: to gather early Who radio and TV recordings that have not been officially released. For plugging holes in the archives, it has its satisfactions, but as a listening experience, it\'s mostly for the diehards. The 1965 television shows are interesting in that they provide documentary evidence of how the Who sounded live as they began their recording career, and the performances are good (though one, \"Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere\" on Ready, Steady, Go, seems to be the same track that came out officially on the soundtrack to The Kids Are Alright). But the sound is only fair to lousy, which is too bad, as the live versions of \"Shout and Shimmy,\" a substantially different arrangement of \"My Generation\" (from August 1965, prior to the single\'s release), and Marvin Gaye\'s \"Baby, Don\'t You Do It\" (from December 1965, not the B-side that was officially released from an early-\'70s concert) are rare and intriguing. On the other hand, the 1966 BBC version of \"So Sad About Us\" is good in both performance and fidelity respects, as are the three songs done in London\'s Marquee club in March 1967 (not March 1969, as the liner notes claim) for the German Beat Club program.

The late-1967 BBC versions of songs from the era of The Who Sell Out sound like the studio versions, except for a take of \"Our Love Was\" with a different, country-ish guitar solo. The half-dozen BBC songs from April 1970 likewise seem mostly or totally comprised of remixed official studio versions, and the four songs from a live 1964 show have long been available on bootlegs that actually include more material from that same gig. The Pete Townshend TV interview from early 1966, at least, does demonstrate that his opinions of the group and its significance flip-flopped maniacally even at the dawn of his stardom.

Legend is an oft abused word. There are few stars in the British pop pantheon who could legitimately be described as such. Steve Marriott is one. With an army of dedicated devotees numbering Weller and Gallagher in their ranks, the Marriott legend continues to grow.

From his first role as the original Artful Dodger in Lionel Bart's first run of Oliver, to the electrifying bundle of energy that fronted the Small Faces, through his Humble Pie 'super-group' with Peter Frampton, and his eventual return to his Essex blues roots. Steve Marriott crammed a lot into a short time. Following his tragic death at 44 in a house fire in 1991, the Small Faces catalogue has been reissued in a hundred different ways. Box sets, CDs in tins – virtually every track they recorded is available. For a band together for only three years, their impact still looms large as the genuine mod icons.

But what ofMarriott's time before the Small Faces? At 16, Steve Marriott formed The Moments, an east London r and b band with a loyal mod following through their residencies at the Flamingo Club. They gigged hard through 1964 but commercial success eluded them and in October of that year Marriott was dumped by the rest of the band after they decided that 'he didn't have it in him to be a singer…'

Then, according to David Bowie, he and Marriott were planning a blues band called David and Goliath when Marriott jumped ship and formed the Small Faces with Ronnie Lane.

Last year, Barry Hewitt, the bass player in The Moments chanced upon an un-played acetate recorded back in 1964. A conversation with Whapping Wharf's John Hellier led the unheard recordings to Acid Jazz, where they have been coupled with The Moments only release, the impossibly rare 'You Really Got Me'/'Money' (US World Artists 1964) for a special limited edition 7 inch vinyl EP.

2008/08/21

The picture has been taken at Melbourne. Jo Macklin also sent for all of us a signed PW Movement gig's review that her friend Tony wrote in 1990 and that was published. He finally got signed at Melbourne 18 years later!!

Weller’s new single is a ‘double A side’ featuring ALL I WANNA DO and PUSH IT ALONG plus a previously unreleased track BIG BRASS BUTTONS co-written by and featuring Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie. In addition to the 3-track CD there will be 2 limited edition 7” singles – one in the old-school pink Island Records bag featuring ALL I WANNA DO / PUSH IT ALONG, the other a different art-worked bag featuring an acoustic version of ALL I WANNA DO with the b-side featuring an acoustic cover version of Manfred Mann’s PRETTY FLAMINGO.

Any changes please go direct to new-look websiteand use 'request form' to send new details of changes in address etc. Any problems with the new site let me know, there have been a few teething problems.

2008/08/20

As you probably know, the Zombies played live their fabulous Odessey and Oracle and Paul Weller was in the venue to hear one of his ten favourites ever. They had recently a Radio Session with Johnnie Walker and Mike E sent it gently to me for the pleasure of all. Enjoy.

2008/08/19

If i can just interrupt your enjoyment of the music for a moment I'd like you to do me a small favour. Last week i lost my mother to Lymphatic cancer. The people who looked after her were fantastic and made her last few days restful and pain free.

As always for these organisations money is hard to come by so I'm asking if you enjoyed the music i found for you , the love of which was encouraged by my mother, you may like to make a small donation here http://www.lymphoma.org.uk/support/ or indeed to any other cancer organisation of your choice. Or simply wish her well on her journey. Anything you can do would be very much appreciated.

2008/08/14

Hi gang, I'm back from great holidays, very cool and restful. Could revisit many discographies with the headphones... Beatles, Small faces, Weller again... a very interesting new LP from the very underrated Ron Sexsmith...so cool and melodic... Did some holidays pictures, here they are. Will be back with Weller's articles scanned (thanx so much Simon!). Hope you'll enjoy it. Photos are true ones, no fakes. ;)